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The film begins with Bilbo Baggins celebrating his 129th birthday in Rivendell. The film flashes back to Sam Gamgee heading towards Cirith Ungol to rescue Frodo Baggins, but not before thinking about claiming the One Ring himself. Gandalf and Pippin arrive at Minas Tirith to warn Denethor, the Steward of Gondor, about the upcoming war — only to discover that the Steward has lost his mind. Meanwhile, Sam rescues Frodo and they finish their quest at Mount Doom, only to be attacked by Gollum, who bites Frodo's finger off and claims the Ring. While dancing with joy at the retrieval of his "Precious," he loses his footing and falls into the lava, taking the Ring with him.

Rohan helps Gondor claim victory in the Battle of the Pelennor Fields and, with the destruction of the Ring, Sauron is defeated. Months later, Aragorn is crowned King of Gondor. The film concludes back in the present with Frodo agreeing to accompany Bilbo, Gandalf and Elrond in leaving Middle-earth. Sam, Merry and Pippin bid them all farewell as they depart across the sea.

At the end it is implied Hobbits will become taller with each passing generation, eventually becoming Man high, and became Men.

Reception for the animated TV special is varied. Some commentators view it affectionately as an adaptation which children and parents can enjoy together [1]. However, others regard it with disdain, comparing it unfavorably to Ralph Bakshi's earlier animated film and Peter Jackson's later live-action film[2], [3]. Glenn Yarborough's songs are widely derided, although some admit to a campy affection for the surprisingly tuneful Orc marching song "Where There's a Whip, There's a Way" or the ballad "Frodo of the Nine Fingers" [4].

In the absence of an official sequel to Ralph Bakshi's The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King has come to be marketed by Warner Bros. as the final part of a loose animated Tolkien trilogy, preceded by The Hobbit (to which Rankin/Bass originally presented The Return of the King as a direct sequel). The middle film is very different in tone and character design, however, and the final two films do not join up seamlessly, as both omit various segments from The Two Towers, most notably regarding the events in Shelob's lair and the Ents' march on Isengard. Other omissions in the Rankin/Bass version include the characters of Legolas, Gimli, Arwen, Saruman, Éomer, and Faramir (though it's possible the latter makes a brief appearance; there is an unidentified Man - who has no lines of dialogue - who accompanies Éowyn on horseback during Aragorn's coronation, and the two of them exchange rather knowing looks). Even Aragorn doesn't have much dialogue or screentime despite being the 'King' of the movie's title.

The animated Return of the King is available on DVD from Warner Bros., both individually and as a "boxed trilogy" with the Rankin/Bass Hobbit and Bakshi's Lord of the Rings.